The Flint Journal

YPSILANTI, MI - A Michigan escape room gets high praise from a national publication. USA Today says Decode Ypsilanti is among the 20 best in the entire country for 2021. The publication has nominated Decode Ypsilanti and 19 others in its 20 Best Readers’ Choice Awards. Readers can now vote here for the top 10. You can vote once per day until voting ends on Aug. 30. The top 10 will be revealed on Sept. 10.

When it comes to vacation rentals, it’s not just about the space itself -- excellent hospitality on the part of the hosts can make a great vacation even better. Highlighting the best of the best when it comes to exemplary hosting, the vacation rental website Airbnb recently announced its most outstanding hosts in all 50 states, based the most 100% 5-star guest reviews in the categories of Cleanliness, Check-In, and Communication.

ALLEN PARK -- Dan Campbell previously said he had big plans for Duce Staley on his staff, and it sure sounds and looks like the first-year Detroit Lions coach is following through on those thoughts. Campbell outlined plans for Staley back in March, which included keeping up on the cap...

FLINT, MI -- A $1,295,378 federal grant will fund Carman-Ainsworth Community Schools’ Early Head Start program in 2021-22 and beyond. The nearly $1.3 million grant, awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, was announced by U.S. Representative Dan Kildee, D-Flint Twp., on Sunday, Aug. 1. This funding...

After Michigan made a mistake, it asked 690,000 unemployment recipients to refile their paperwork to see if they were actually eligible for the benefits they received. About 450,000 failed to respond, but the Unemployment Insurance Agency has decided not to demand the money back from 350,000 of those claimants – granting them a waiver.

Marijuana edibles, like gummy candies, cookies, brownies and chocolate bars, look and, many would argue, actually taste delicious. However, regulators don’t want the packaging to broadcast that. They fear it is contributes to the risk that an unsuspecting child will pick one up, have a bite and become ill. The...

LAPEER, MI -- A 50-year-old Lapeer man died Sunday evening after he was hit by a car while attempting to cross M-24 in Lapeer County. Lapeer County 911 dispatched Lapeer County Sheriff’s deputies at 9:21 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 1, to a traffic crash involving a pedestrian near the intersection of North Lapeer Road (M-24) and Sawdust Corners Road in Lapeer County’s Mayfield Township, according to a sheriff’s office news release.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said lockdowns are unlikely despite the rise in COVID-19 cases, but things are going to get worse with the Delta variant’s spread. The nation’s top infectious disease expert stressed that this is an “outbreak of the unvaccinated,” and that this group...

FLINT, MI — Hundreds of people gathered for the annual jazz festival this weekend as music flowed alongside a riverside park in downtown Flint. The Flint Jazz Festival kicked off this year with music from local and international musicians, food and drinks from local vendors and merchandise. The festival began...

I’ve heard the worries that summer is over, given the cool start to August. The weather pattern shows summer will return by Wednesday, and then Michigan could eventually get hot. This week’s temperatures will stair-step up a couple of degrees each day. The warming trend will continue into early next...

HOUGHTON COUNTY, MI – A 20-month-old girl drowned and died in an Upper Peninsula lake after she wandered away from her family while camping last week, WLUC reports. Troopers from the Michigan State Police Calumet Post were dispatched to the Torch Lake area in Houghton County around 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 29, for a report of a possible drowning, the report said.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has spent the last year and a half building a national profile, something that’s reflected in her latest campaign finance filings. More than a third -- 38.6% -- of her donations came from out of Michigan in the latest campaign finance filing. It’s a trend with an...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last week changed course on its mask guidance, saying even vaccinated people should wear masks indoors in parts of the country where there is substantial or high risk of COVID-19 transmission. On Friday, the CDC released in its morbidity and mortality weekly report...

Parents eligible for the next round of Child Tax Credit payments have one last chance to unenroll for the August payment if they would rather apply the money to their tax returns next year. The deadline to unenroll for each monthly payment is set as three days before the first...

Experts agree the Paycheck Protection Program was a win for all of Michigan – but perhaps the biggest winners were Oakland County and the manufacturing industry. The federal program doled out $24 billion to small businesses in Michigan through more than 300,000 forgivable loans. There were two rounds of PPP funding, so some places got two loans.

NOVI, MI - The creepier and kookier the better at this comic con. This is Michigan’s largest horror convention and it returned in 2021 after COVID forced organizers to postpone it earlier this year. Below are photos from the event of some scary good cosplay. Motor City Nightmares took place...

BIRMINGHAM, MI - Talk about the surprise of a lifetime. One of the biggest WWE Superstars ever and a global superstar of the big screen, John Cena, shocked moviegoers at a screening of his latest film, “The Suicide Squad.”. Cena, who was also in town for a WWE live event...

FLINT – High school football practice for the 2021 season officially begins Aug. 9 and the first game for Flint-area teams will be Aug. 26. The highlight of the opening weekend in the Flint area will be the return of the Vehicle City Gridiron Iron Classic Aug. 26-27 at Atwood Stadium. There will be two games each day.

Michigan housing prices haven’t let up, even as pending sales have started to creep downward. The housing supply just can’t meet demand, real estate experts say. In June, Michigan had the highest median sales prices ever recorded in any month dating back to 2003, according to real estate data company Realcomp.

SHIAWASSEE COUNTY, MI -- The Shiawassee County Board of Commissioners never got a chance to remove Jeremy Root from his position as chairman of the board during their special meeting Sunday, Aug. 1. Root did it himself, resigning his chairmanship but not his position as a commissioner, after a failed...